Memorial Panel to be Held for AIDS/HIV Awareness

Emma Johnson, Student Reporter

A series of events for AIDS/HIV and Addiction awareness is set to be hosted on campus. 

During the week of Mar. 6-10, different events such as a memorial, a panel discussion, a resource fair and a documentary screening will be hosted to remember those lost to AIDS/HIV and addiction.

Students, staff and members of the community are invited to participate in the memorial that will be displayed in Drinko Library starting Mar. 6. Anyone wanting to participate in the memorial is encouraged to bring special items or pictures of loved ones they would like to remember. Items for the memorial can be brought to Drink Circulation between 2 and 8 p.m. 

The panel discussion on AIDS/HIV and addiction is currently planned for 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 6 in Room 402 of Drinko Library. Dr. Allison Carey, Dr. Margaret Sullivan, Dr. Cody Lumpkin and Tijah Bumgarner, who are all Marshall faculty, will be the panelists hosting the discussion. 

There will be a public screening of the documentary “How to Survive a Plague,” by David France. The documentary screening will be presented at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Mar. 7, in Room 154 of Smith Hall. 

The AIDS/HIV and Addiction Resource Fair is planned for Wednesday, Mar. 8 at 12-4 p.m. in the Drinko Library lobby. The resource fair will include HIV screenings; “Be the One Ally” training, which is scheduled for 10 a.m.; Naloxone training at 1 p.m. and a SMART RxUniversity training at 2 p.m. in Room 130 of Drinko Library. 

“After years of living in pandemic conditions due to COVID-19, many people were unable to find regular testing. Knowing that the average age of HIV infection happens between the ages of 13-24, the college population is a great place to start encouraging regular testing, using PrEP and taking other preventive measures, such as using protection and clean needles,” Marshall libraries Meghan Sexton-Harness said. 

All events are free and open to everyone who wants to participate. All events are sponsored by Marshall University Libraries in conjunction with Collegiate Recovery and the LGBTQ+ Office.